Read Online Sail Upon the Land by Josa Young - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Josa Young
Ads: Link
top.
Pearl looked up, bemused. ‘But how does all this concern Albert?’
Mrs Jenkins carried on explaining: ‘It works like this: when a peer dies without a male heir of his own body, you hop back up the generations to see if any previous holder of the title had second or third sons with legitimate male descendants, and that’s how we traced your husband. Although I do just need to see his birth certificate and also his parents’ and your marriage certificates.’
‘They should all be in this folder. These are the documents that Albert brought with him when we married, including papers sent back from India.’
Mrs Jenkins took the folder. ‘Do you have any questions at this point?’
Pearl said, ‘What does all this mean for us?’
‘Well, as your husband is deceased, we believe your son Albert may be the fourteenth Baron Mount-Hey of Hey, which is important for two reasons. First, he will have a seat in the House of Lords, and secondly, and less usually, the estate goes with the title as there are no closer male heirs currently living, although the law of entail has changed and I will need to check everything very carefully.’
Pearl digested this, and then said, ‘You mean Bert is a lord?’
‘In effect, yes. But I’m afraid there is no fortune as such. The main problem with all this was the repeated death duties as one heir after another died unmarried. There were few or no concessions in tax law for death in war, so all the outlying farms and some other property had to be sold off to pay them.’
To Pearl, who lived in a semi-detached house in Eastbourne, anything that involved outlying farms sounded enormous. Bert looked quite indifferent.
‘There isn’t much left, but there is a house in Sussex called Castle Hey. It was commandeered by the Army as a listening post, and up until now they haven’t relinquished it so you don’t have to worry about it yet. There may be some compensation for the damage which you must be prepared for. Some families have had to pull their houses down as they were completely wrecked.’
She turned and smiled at Bert, who was sucking his unaccustomed Coca Cola through the straw – his grandparents refused to stock American drinks – with a great deal of pleasure and clearly not listening. She asked him if he had any questions, but he just blushed and muttered, ‘No, thank you.’
The meeting went on for an hour. When they got up to leave Pearl was still not at all sure what to think. The only immediate impression she received was that there was a fund available for the heir’s education.
As soon as they got home to Eastbourne, Pearl went round to call on her parents and give them the news. She could see that they too had no idea how to react to the information that their only grandchild was now a lord. Pearl led the way in deciding to ignore Albert’s elevation until the family was forced to build it into their world view. That happened faster than expected. Having ascertained the age of the Mount-Hey heir, and obtained all the proofs they needed, the trustees specified that Albert must go to public school, even though the academic year had already started. So stunned was the family that they simply complied, writing anxiously to Mrs Jenkins asking for recommendations.
She decided that Armishaw’s, a guild foundation school up on the Downs above Eastbourne, was the best choice. Albert would not find the hurried transition from grammar to public school so difficult there as it was on home territory.
Six
Albert
September 1954
Whap – loud, painful and shocking, it came out of nowhere. Bert’s head reeled with scattered sparks at the blow.
‘Daydreaming, Hayes? Is that what they teach you to do at these grammar schools? You’re at Armishaw’s now, boy, you need to buck up.’
It was his housemaster Mr Featherstone known as Eggy for his shiny bare pate which he tried to hide like a fat man behind a sapling with a slick strand of hair. After
Pearl looked up, bemused. ‘But how does all this concern Albert?’
Mrs Jenkins carried on explaining: ‘It works like this: when a peer dies without a male heir of his own body, you hop back up the generations to see if any previous holder of the title had second or third sons with legitimate male descendants, and that’s how we traced your husband. Although I do just need to see his birth certificate and also his parents’ and your marriage certificates.’
‘They should all be in this folder. These are the documents that Albert brought with him when we married, including papers sent back from India.’
Mrs Jenkins took the folder. ‘Do you have any questions at this point?’
Pearl said, ‘What does all this mean for us?’
‘Well, as your husband is deceased, we believe your son Albert may be the fourteenth Baron Mount-Hey of Hey, which is important for two reasons. First, he will have a seat in the House of Lords, and secondly, and less usually, the estate goes with the title as there are no closer male heirs currently living, although the law of entail has changed and I will need to check everything very carefully.’
Pearl digested this, and then said, ‘You mean Bert is a lord?’
‘In effect, yes. But I’m afraid there is no fortune as such. The main problem with all this was the repeated death duties as one heir after another died unmarried. There were few or no concessions in tax law for death in war, so all the outlying farms and some other property had to be sold off to pay them.’
To Pearl, who lived in a semi-detached house in Eastbourne, anything that involved outlying farms sounded enormous. Bert looked quite indifferent.
‘There isn’t much left, but there is a house in Sussex called Castle Hey. It was commandeered by the Army as a listening post, and up until now they haven’t relinquished it so you don’t have to worry about it yet. There may be some compensation for the damage which you must be prepared for. Some families have had to pull their houses down as they were completely wrecked.’
She turned and smiled at Bert, who was sucking his unaccustomed Coca Cola through the straw – his grandparents refused to stock American drinks – with a great deal of pleasure and clearly not listening. She asked him if he had any questions, but he just blushed and muttered, ‘No, thank you.’
The meeting went on for an hour. When they got up to leave Pearl was still not at all sure what to think. The only immediate impression she received was that there was a fund available for the heir’s education.
As soon as they got home to Eastbourne, Pearl went round to call on her parents and give them the news. She could see that they too had no idea how to react to the information that their only grandchild was now a lord. Pearl led the way in deciding to ignore Albert’s elevation until the family was forced to build it into their world view. That happened faster than expected. Having ascertained the age of the Mount-Hey heir, and obtained all the proofs they needed, the trustees specified that Albert must go to public school, even though the academic year had already started. So stunned was the family that they simply complied, writing anxiously to Mrs Jenkins asking for recommendations.
She decided that Armishaw’s, a guild foundation school up on the Downs above Eastbourne, was the best choice. Albert would not find the hurried transition from grammar to public school so difficult there as it was on home territory.
Six
Albert
September 1954
Whap – loud, painful and shocking, it came out of nowhere. Bert’s head reeled with scattered sparks at the blow.
‘Daydreaming, Hayes? Is that what they teach you to do at these grammar schools? You’re at Armishaw’s now, boy, you need to buck up.’
It was his housemaster Mr Featherstone known as Eggy for his shiny bare pate which he tried to hide like a fat man behind a sapling with a slick strand of hair. After
Similar Books
